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THE REAL MEANING OF “OUR FATHER”
Have we ever wonder why Jesus taught us the “Lord’s Prayer” as the best approach to God the Father when asking Him for our daily needs? This prayer is not just an ordinary prayer, but a unique petition so that if we could sincerely fathom and appreciate its meaning, we could get anything that we ask from God.
Didn’t
Jesus say that “whatever ye ask in prayer, believe that what you have
prayed you have already received?” He taught us “positive faith.”
The first step is to address God as “Our Father”.
That just goes to show that we need to recognize first that we are truly
sons and daughters of God before we could ever come before God for the asking.
God will never hear an illegitimate child, spiritually speaking. I cannot
say "Father" if I do not demonstrate that relationship
with God in my daily life by not walking in His will and by not acknowledging
His ultimate power and guidance in my daily activities.
“Which art in Heaven” positionally puts God
as the supreme authority and power in the whole universe whereby man should
look up to.
“Hallowed be Thy Name” means to glorify God
first before asking anything. It also means worship and veneration to God.
I cannot say "Hallowed by Thy Name" if I, who am called by His
Name, am not holy. I need to live a holy life.
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is heaven”
means we are acknowledging His sovereign authority over every matter in
our lives and that we honor God’s answer to our prayer, whether it’s
a “yes” or it’s a “no”, since everything work
together for good to them that love the Lord. I cannot say "Thy will
be done" if I am unwilling or resentful of having His will done in
my life. We are taught that trials and sufferings are a normal part of a
Christian Life. We are not promised a flowery bed of ease when we become
Christians. A diamond is cut to show its glitter. A gold is tried in the
fire to show its glow. A Christian is tested, tried and proven by sufferings.
Didn’t Jesus say that “He that overcometh will I grant to sit
with me on My throne as I am sitted on My Father’s throne.”
I cannot say "On earth as it is in Heaven" unless
I am willing to serve Him here and now.
I cannot say "Give us this day our daily bread"
without making an honest effort for it, or by ignoring the needs of others.
I cannot say "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us" if I continue to bear a grudge - a grudge against anyone.
I cannot say "Lead us not into temptation" if
I deliberately choose to stay in a place where I may be tempted.
I cannot say "Deliver us from evil" if my own works are evil in themselves and I am not prepared to fight in the spiritual realm with prayer.
I cannot say "Thine is the Kingdom" if I do not give the King the disciplined obedience of a loyal subject.
I
cannot say "Thine is the power" if I fear what
my friends and neighbours might say about me.
I cannot say "Thine is the glory" if I am seeking
my own glory first.
I cannot say "Amen" unless I can honestly say
also, "Cost what it may, this will always be my prayer."
This, I believe, must be the real essence of the “Lord’s Prayer” as He gave them to us to reflect upon, to live by the very words in it, and to share the meaning of it to others.
SATAN AND JESUS
One
day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come
from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting.
"Yes,
sir, I just
caught the world full of people down there. Set me a trap used bait I knew
they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"
"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.
Satan replied,
"Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them
how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how
to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and
bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"
"And what will you do when you get done with them?" Jesus asked.
"Oh, I'll kill 'em bring them all to hell," Satan glared proudly.
"How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked.
"Oh, you
don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why,
you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you
and kill
you! You don't want those people!!"
"How
much?" Jesus asked again.
Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your tears, and all your blood."
Jesus said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price at Calvary.
THE MISSING TIME
For all the scientists out there, and for all the students who have a hard time convincing these people regarding the truth of the Bible, here's something that shows God's awesome creation, and that He is still in control.
Did you know that the space program is busy proving that what has been called "myth" in the Bible is true?
Mr. Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore, Maryland, and a consultant in the space program, relates the following development. "I think one of the most amazing things that God has done for us today happened recently to our astronauts and space scientists at Greenbelt, Maryland. They were checking out where the positions of the sun, moon, and planets would be 100 years and 1,000 years from now.
“We have to know this so we won't send up a satellite and have it bump into something later on in its orbits. We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite and where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down.”
They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries, and it came to a halt. The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant that there was something wrong with either the information fed into it or with the results as compared to the standards.
They called in the service department to check it out, and they said, “What's wrong?” Well, they found there is a day missing in space in elapsed time. They scratched their heads and tore their hair. There was no answer.
Finally a Christian man on the team said, '”You know, one time I was in Sunday School, and they talked about the sun standing still.”
While they didn't believe him, they didn't have an answer either, so they said, “Show us.” He got a Bible and went to the book of Joshua where they found a pretty ridiculous statement for any one with 'common sense.' There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, “Fear them not, I have delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.” Joshua was concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy, and if darkness fell, they would overpower them. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That's right. The sun stood still and the moon stayed and lasted not to go down about a whole day!” (Joshua 10:8, 12-13)
The astronauts and scientists said, “There is the missing day!” They checked the computers going back into the time it was written and found it was close but not close enough. The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua's day was 23 hours and 20 minutes... not a whole day.
They reread the Bible, and there it was 'about (approximately) a day.' These little words in the Bible are important, but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes, you'll still be in trouble 1,000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits.
As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered some where in the Bible where it said the sun went BACKWARDS.
The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they got out the Book and read these words in 2 Kings 20:9-11 that told of the following story: “Hezekiah, on his death bed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said 'Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?' Hezekiah said, 'It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees.' Isaiah spoke to the Lord, and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD!" Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes!
Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe! Isn't it amazing?
SUICIDAL ATTEMPT AND A RINGING PHONE
Isn't it amazing how God works in our lives!
One Saturday
night several weeks ago, this pastor was working late, and decided to call
his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 PM, but his wife didn't
answer the phone. The pastor let it ring many times. He thought it was odd
that she didn't answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again
in a few minutes.
When he tried again she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn't
answered before, and she said that it hadn't rung at their house. They brushed
it off as a fluke and went on their merry ways.
The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which
was the phone that he'd used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke
with wanted to know why he had called on Saturday night. The pastor couldn't
figure out what the man was talking about.
Then the man said, "It rang and rang, but I didn't answer." The pastor remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he'd intended to call his wife.
The man said,
"That's OK. Let me tell you my story.You see, I was planning to commit
suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, 'God if you're there,
and you don't want me to do this, give me a sign now.'
At that point my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it
said, 'Almighty God'. I was afraid to answer!"
The reason why it showed on the man's caller ID that the call came from
"Almighty God" is because the church that the pastor attends is
called Almighty God Tabernacle.
IMPORTANT RECALL NOTICE
The
Maker of all human beings is recalling all units manufactured, regardless
of make or year, due to the serious defect in the primary and central component
of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype
units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction
of the same defect in all subsequent units.
This defect has been technically termed, "Sub-sequential Internal
Non-morality," or more commonly known as "SIN".
Some Symptoms:
[a] Loss of direction
[b] Lack of peace and joy
[c] Depression or confusion in the mental component
[d] Foul vocal emissions
[e] Selfish violent behavior
[f] Amnesia of origin
[g] Fearfulness
[h[ Rebellion
To correct this SIN defect, the Manufacturer, Who is neither liable nor
at fault for this defect, is providing factory authorized repair and service
free of charge. The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most generously offered
to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs.
There is no additional fee required. The number to call for repair in all
areas is:
P-R-A-Y-E-R.
Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through
the REPENTANCE procedure.
Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician,
Jesus, into the heart component.
No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace
it with:
[a] Love
[b] Joy
[c] Peace
[d] Kindness
[e] Goodness
[f] Faithfulness
[g] Gentleness
[h] Patience
[I] Self-control
Please see the operating manual, 'HOLY BIBLE', for further
details on the use of these fixes.
As
an added upgrade, the Manufacturer has made available to all repaired units
direct monitoring and assistance from the resident Maintenance Technician,
The HOLY SPIRIT. Repaired units need only make Him welcome and
He will take up residence on the premises.
WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without making these
corrections voids the Manufacturer's warranty, exposing the unit to many
dangers and problems --- and will result in the human unit being permanently
impounded.
For free emergency service, Call on Jesus.
Thank you for your attention. If possible, please notify others of this
Important Recall Notice.
(More articles to be uploaded soon)